Who rides a motorcycle?

[hilld]

I am just getting ready to purchase a "new to me" BMW R1200GS Adventure bike to do some commuting and trail riding and I was wondering who else does that on this board. It took a while to convince the wife, but she finally came around. It haven't owned a bike in about 10 years, but used to do a lot of riding while in the Army and even when stationed in Germany.

My goal is to make a ride up to Alaska as well as trips through the Rockies and Moab.

Derek

Here is a pic of the bike.

 

[Dmace]

Nice!

I have been on Ninja sportsbikes since I got my motorcycle license at 16 and the past few years have been on a Harley Dyna Low-Rider. I miss dropping a knee in the corners but love the 300+ mile trips that were he!! on the crotch-rockets.


Click thumbnail for larger image

 

[DK35vince]

Here is my 2009 Kawasaki 650 Versys.

 

[caver]

2002 Suzuki DR650 dual sport.
Somewhere in Idaho close to the continental divide crossing a talus slope.

 

[Skyco]

2004 Suzuki V-Strom 1000 same concept as your BMW.
Also - 98 Honda XR400 and 2k Kawasaki KDX200 dual sported true dirt bikes

 

[Steve C]

I am just getting ready to purchase a "new to me" BMW R1200GS Adventure bike to do some commuting and trail riding and I was wondering who else does that on this board.

That is a great bike. If I could only have one bike the 1200GS beemer would be at the top of my list.

I have been riding for 43 years. My first bike was a 1966 Suzuki 250 X6. I have never been without a bike since then. At one time I had 12 of them, but that is just crazy, so I have cut down to only 4 or five at a time now. The last time I counted them I had owened 100 or so bikes, all kinds of them. I flirted with the sport bikes, had a couple of Suzuki 750 GXRS and Yamaha FZR's. I seem to have settled on touring bikes, dirt bikes and cruisers for my use. I have a KTM 525 EXC, and a GasGas 250 enduro for the woods riding. I have a 1800 Goldwing for when my wife wants to go along (she won't ride on anything else since I spoiled her with my first Goldwing in 1984). I have a 05 Harley Nightrain for when I want to ride around make a little noise and look bad. I have a Honda 1800C VTX for when I want to ride around and be bad.

These are some of my most recent bikes.

The first picture is of me and my KTM after the most miserable ride of my life. I am the guy in the brown coveralls, not very stylish but warmer than some of the guys on the ride.

It was around 30 degrees. We planned the ride a couple days earlier. On the way to the trail head we ran into the snow. By the time we got to the trail there was 6 to 8 inches of fresh wet snow in the woods. We all looked at each other and asked if anyone wanted to chicken out. Being guys we all said of course not! I did mention that I thought we brought the wrong machines, perhaps snowmobiles would be more appropiate.

I durffed onto a 3 foot deep water hole 2 miles into the ride and submarined my KTM. One of the Honda riders was impressed, my bike was laying on its side with the throttle end of the handle bars sticking out of the water and it never even stalled. He commented that his Honda won't run when horizontal.

I rode the next 48 miles soaking wet. The trees had so much snow on them they were bent over and the branches would bounce off the number plate, springing them up in the air and throwing the wet snow up and it would come down on our heads and go down our necks. In places we had to lay on the tank and keep our heads lower than the bars just to get through the bent over trees.

It was a very long fifty mile day in the tight woods of northern Michigan.....but it sure is the one ride that none of us will ever forget. One area was flooded to the extent that an "s" shaped plank bridge a couple hundred feet long and about 4 foot wide that crosses a swampy area had about 4 foot of water under the bridge and about 1 foot of water on top of the bridge. This caused the bridge to float under the surface of the water. It was like riding on a submerged air mattres. The waves caused by the bike tires made the submerged bridge very hard to see and the floating made it move up and down as the bike passed over it. It was probably the most scared I have ever been on a motorcycle. I was already soaking wet and I could just picture myself dropping off the almost invisible edge into about 5 foot of ice water. I was 58 years old at the time, one would think I would have known better!

Wow bikes sure are fun!!

 

[ToadHill]

I rode a honda 450 in the 70's but in high school in the late 50's I rode a 38 Indian. Sure wish I still had that bike.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

My '86 Yamaha XT600 has been down to the mountains below Monterrey Mexico twice and to the Crested Butte/Gunnison area once. She's been in storage for almost 5 years now. I need to replace some seals and reset the camshaft top cover with some fresh Yamabond #4 to stop the oil leaks.

 

[sherpa]

My family has been riding motorcyles for many years.
We ride dual sport adventure bikes now.
We have 3 yamaha XT225's and a Kawasaki KLR650.
We have ridden dirt roads in Ut, Co, NM, AZ, TX, FL, VA, KS, SC, GA, AR, WV and NC.
Its 10 miles dirt road to our home here in the NC mountains so a dual sport is a must!
sherpa

 

[hilld]

I durffed onto a 3 foot deep water hole 2 miles into the ride and submarined my KTM.

Is that called ice fishing?

 

[kennyd]

I have been riding since I was 16. Current bike is a '98 GL1500SE.

Pictures below taken last year on the "Tail of the Dragon"

 

[Steve C]

Is that called ice fishing?

yes. The Honda rider helped pull me out. I was spent trying to pull the KTM free from the mud.

 

[Mike058]

I ride one of these

 

[Bird]

I used to enjoy riding motorcycles, but sold my last one 21 years ago. I've had a 250cc Zundapp, 305cc Yamaha, 400cc Honda, 650cc Honda Silver Hawk, 1200cc Honda Aspencade, and R80RT BMW, in that order. I never went more that 50 miles from home on a bike until I got the Aspencade. I made a couple of trips from Dallas to Port Aransas on it, and I went from Dallas to Quantico, VA, for a 10 week training course, and on weekends from New Jersey into Pennsylvania, etc. On the BMW, I made one trip from Dallas to Colorado Springs, CO, and on the return trip, made a little side trip up Pike's Peak. They're a lot of fun, but incredibly dangerous. I figure I was just fortunate to never get hurt much by a bike.

 

[SkyPup]

Been riding everyday for over 40 years now. Have three long range hard enduro KTM Adventure Bikes.

Current ride is a dual sport KTM 690E:

 

[charlz]

I have a KTM 250XCW, my son (10) rides a KTM 65SX and my wife rides a KTM 200XCW, all two-strokes. My son and I race the local desert series. Here is a few pics of me from a ride early this spring in the mountains:

 

[Bird]

I never had any desire to do any racing, but trail riding off road, a little minor hill climbing, and such were a great way to spend a nice day. That looks like some pretty places to ride.

 

[LBrown59]

I used to enjoy riding motorcycles, but sold my last one 21 years ago. I've had a 250cc Zundapp, 305cc Yamaha, 400cc Honda, 650cc Honda Silver Hawk, 1200cc Honda Aspencade, and R80RT BMW, in that order. I never went more that 50 miles from home on a bike until I got the Aspencade. I made a couple of trips from Dallas to Port Aransas on it, and I went from Dallas to Quantico, VA, for a 10 week training course, and on weekends from New Jersey into Pennsylvania, etc. On the BMW, I made one trip from Dallas to Colorado Springs, CO, and on the return trip, made a little side trip up Pike's Peak.
They're a lot of fun, but incredibly dangerous.
I figure I was just fortunate to never get hurt much by a bike.

That's the only thing that kept me from ever owning one.

 

[polo1665]

A couple of pics from a trip a group of us took out west a few years ago. Mine is the yellow Goldwing.

Mark

 

[Steve C]

I ride one of these

Nice 750 Vulcans. I had a 700 Vulcan for a year or two. I thought it was a great bike. The suspension and mid range power were much better than I had anticipated. They are very capable motorcycles. Mine had a frame mounted fairing on it when I bought it. I removed it and had to find a headlight for the bike. I installed a large 7 inch light from a 750 Honda. I had to cut down the back of the housing a little to clear the instrument cluster. The final result was great. I still have the fairing somewhere in one of my barns.